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Journalism of Courage
The BCCIs senior selection committee,headed by former India opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth,has picked his son,Anirudha Srikkanth,as part of Indias Emerging Players squad which will play a series of three-day games in Australia next month.
The Tamil Nadu opener had a below average season last year,as his 251 runs from 9 innings didnt even see him in the Top 50 Ranji Trophy run-getters. In the one-dayers,he was 27th on the list with 210 runs. He scored a couple of 50s for Tamil Nadu and one half-century for Chennai Super Kings at the IPL.
BCCI secretary N Srinivasan,who is also the convenor of the selection committee meeting,refused to comment on the issue. I dont speak on selection matters, he said.
All I can say is that there was a consensus on his selection, said Srikkanth. Incidentally,this is the final year of the Srikkanth-led panels term.
But beyond the committee there were many who didnt agree with the decision,as they named several players who surprisingly failed to make the cut despite having a far superior record than Anirudha.
He shouldnt have been there in a team that is to play three-day games. Anirudhas style suits the T20 format,but even there he isnt quite the top run-getter. Younger players with more potential have scored more than him, said an official of a state unit whose player was overlooked.
Why Anirudhas selection makes for an interesting debate is because most players in the 15-member side seem to have earned their call-up the hard way with piles of runs in the 2010-11 Ranji Trophy.
Meanwhile,the selectors have left out the likes of Ishank Jaggi,a 22-year-old batsman from Jharkhand who scored 532 runs in the longer version and made 346 runs in one-dayers at an average of 57; Karnatakas 24-year-old Amit Verma who made 652 runs; Barodas 21-year old Kedar Devdhar who was scored 499 runs; and Punjabs 19-year-old batsman Mandeep Singh who scored 305 runs.
